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alkalosis

abnormally low level of acidity, or high level of
alkalinity, in the body fluids, including the blood. Alkalosis may be either metabolic or respiratory in origin. Metabolic alkalosis results from either acid loss (which may be caused by severe vomiting or by the use of potent diuretics [substances that promote production of urine]) or bicarbonate gain (which may be caused by excessive intake of...

buffer solutions

Because acids and bases tend to promote a wide range of chemical reactions, the maintenance of a certain level of acidity or
alkalinity in a solution through the use of buffer solutions is essential to many chemical and biological experiments. Many biochemical processes occur only at specific pH values, which are maintained by natural buffers present in the body.

lakes

...sodium salts. Other salts of importance occurring in lake sediments include borates, nitrates, and potash. Small quantities of borax are found in various lakes throughout the world. Lakes with high
alkalinity levels, such as Mono Lake in California, can still support some forms of life.

plant nutrition

...and may reach concentrations that are toxic or that inhibit absorption of other nutrients, while other minerals become chemically bound and unavailable to plants. A similar situation exists in alkaline soils, although different minerals are affected. Oats planted in alkaline soils that actually contain a sufficient amount of manganese may develop the manganese-deficiency disease gray...

work of Black

The research on the nature of
alkalinity, which Black conducted for his thesis, laid the basis for the most important paper of his career, “
Experiments upon Magnesia Alba, Quicklime, and Some Other Alcaline Substances,” given to the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh in 1755. The earlier series of experiments for his thesis were conducted on magnesium salt and, for the...